The impact of regulation on FinTech

As we enter 2016, there is no shortage of startups in the United States aiming to build technology-led, purpose-build products and businesses for the future of financial services. To-date, there are over 5,000 players in the FinTech market and counting. While the US remains one of the key launchpads of technological innovation globally, the lack of engagement and embrace of FinTech startups by regulators, and its skew towards incumbents, has the potential to cost the US its position at the top of the global financial services foodchain.

FinTech Future: It's Burgers, not Bitcoins

The other day I was watching my daughter playing with a group of children at her nursery. I didn't quite follow the rules but it was a picture card game with the apparent objective of winning as many cards as possible.

After a short while a couple of smug-looking kids (you know the sort!) had mastered the game and accumulated the majority of the cards to the obvious disdain of the rest, including my daughter.

Three key steps banks must take to react to fintech innovation

As the technology available to consumers and businesses alike continues to evolve, it’s unsurprising to see the financial sector – one we all rely on throughout our lives – beginning to innovate alongside the rest of the business world. A major element of this is the growth of the fintech. This sector has grown rapidly; so much so that 35 per cent of the UK’s online population has used at least one fintech product.

Challenges to implementing dynamic pricing in financial services

Legacy IT systems

The roadblock to real pricing execution lies in bank legacy core systems. Just a reminder, legacy systems are costly. A study by IBM suggests that rigid legacy systems cost the industry $200 billion annually, and siphons off roughly 20% of pre-tax profits. 

Let that sink in for a moment. 

Bringing the rulebook into the 21st century: what is the General Data Protection Regulation and why is it important?

Regulatory bodies are often lambasted for their failure to keep pace with the rapid rate of technology change. The way that businesses are regulated to share, use and store customers’ personal data is an area that has long been under scrutiny.

The existing regulation of personal data management dates back to 1995, a time before the majority of financial services providers had digital relationships with their personal and business customers. Indeed, only one in ten adults used the internet.

Today, mobile and internet banking is being used for transactions worth nearly £1 billion a day in the UK alone, according to the BBA and EY. This step change in how personal data is used in the banking industry demonstrates the industry-wide drivers behind a new approach to data protection.

The strategic importance of dynamic pricing in financial services

At its foundation, dynamic pricing is simply flexible pricing based on current market demands for a particular product or service. It is second nature to the hospitality and travel industries, even the retail goods market, where algorithms account for competitive pricing, supply and demand, time of day, and on-demand service spikes to affect an ever-changing real time price and profit margin. 

But in banking, dynamic pricing is a different story: more of a Utopic dream than a reality, with some nuances unique to the industry. 

It’s that time of year – back to ATM cards...

Paging through my latest bank statements online, I am reeling at the sticker shock from participating in the festive season. Like many of you, it’s a case of what happened? Was that dinner at my steakhouse really that expensive? And, did I buy my granddaughter a car – she’s only two? I work diligently to maintain good credit ratings and am judicious with my use of credit cards, juggling as I am between what can legitimately be charged to business and what constitutes a personal expense.

2015 in review: the year that fintech hit form

What a difference 12 months can make. Industry conversations at 2014’s Mobey Day (Mobey Forum’s annual open conference for all mobile money stakeholders) told of an industry undergoing major disruption. Just 12 months later toward the end of 2015, the industry vibe had changed almost beyond recognition, particularly in the mobile payments arena.  Consternation, hesitancy and all-out frustration had given way to optimism. Last year’s disruptions have become this year’s tools of liberation, enabling banks, finally, to make progress.